


Stay With the Devil You Know

by Mixxy



Series: Close Enough to Normal [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Anal Sex, But it's a long journey, Dubious Consent, Hurt/Comfort, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Love Triangles, M/M, Mind Manipulation, Minor Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron Hurts So Prettily, Poe wants it but he's brainwashed it's complicated, Possessive Behavior, Shower Sex, Slow Burn, Stepford wife Poe, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:34:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23657677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mixxy/pseuds/Mixxy
Summary: Kylo Ren has carved a space in Poe Dameron's mind that he fits into perfectly. He's twisted and bent the frame of Poe's thoughts until everything finally lined up. As far as Poe is concerned, he's always loved Kylo. But as Kylo's feelings grow alarmingly sincere for what was supposed to be nothing but a prize, he's reminded that no weakness is immune to being exploited.FN-2187 thought that he'd seen just about everything that the order had for a sanitation trooper. But that was until he stumbled across a man in Lord Ren's private quarters with eyes bright like the sun and a smile that feels like home.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron/Finn
Series: Close Enough to Normal [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/422992
Comments: 7
Kudos: 62





	Stay With the Devil You Know

“Lord Ren.” Phasma’s chrome waiting for him as he gets off his transport is never a good sign. It always means there’s something to report.

“Go on.”

“The troops you requested for the recon mission on the second moon of Berden are unavailable. We can provide you with half of the requested number.”

She keeps pace as he strides onto the station. “What are they doing that they can’t be diverted to my mission?”

“A mandatory full-spectrum skills test, sent from the highest command.”

Highest command. “I know who ordered it.” He turns on his heel and marches off. She stops following him then. Smart woman.

Hux is expecting him when he comes onto the bridge, if the way he tilts his head is any indication. “Lord Ren. Safe travels, I assume?”

“Why did you assign a mandatory skills test when I needed the troops?”

Hux blinks his blue eyes at him with an air of exaggerated innocence. “Oh, was that when you wanted them? I’m sorry, I must have gotten my schedule mixed up. I’ve been doing so much more of the day-to-day leadership here.” His gaze grows steely, finding Kylo’s eyes under the mask. “After all, some of us aren’t so preoccupied by our _distractions.”_

It’s bait. Kylo knows it is, and still it’s a struggle not to snap back at Hux, to keep from reaching out and _making_ him shut up. And Hux must know this, because he smiles coldly. “The skills test stands,” he says, “and if you have an objection, you can come to the meetings instead of spending all your nights… _playing_ with your toys.”

Kylo leaves then. Kylo has to leave, because if he didn’t, he’d say something, do something, that betrays how deep Hux has gotten under his skin.

He should go meditate. Reflect on the mission and his anger. But he finds himself walking right past his meditation chambers all the way to his own quarters. Finds himself keying in his code, sliding the doors open, and then.

And then.

“Kylo!” Poe is sitting on the couch and he gives him the brightest smile. “You’re home! How was the mission?” He’s up and has his arms around Kylo in a moment and for a moment Kylo just takes it in. Rests a gloved hand on his back and thinks about being that scared teenager, still hoping that the light and his uncle could fix him, when Poe had rejected him.

How he wishes he could show that weak child what you can get when you embrace the power of the dark side. When you _take_ what you want. Ben Solo’s mistake had been asking Poe at all. He never should have given Poe a choice, just _made him_ love him love him _love him_.

Oh well. Nothing like making up for lost time.

“Take off that thing,” Poe says, hands moving along the edges of the mask. “I hate it when you wear that.”

Kylo lets him take it off and set it on the side table. Poe smiles at him, and it’s the same smile he used to give Ben Solo when they were kids together. Kylo pulls him close and brings their mouths together, kissing it off his face.

Poe sighs happily into the kiss, one hand coming up to brace on the back of Kylo’s head. “Missed you too. I made dinner, but uh-“ He takes a step back, looking at Kylo’s robes. It’s been a long mission, and they aren’t as clean as when he left. “You should go shower while I get it ready. You kinda stink.”

Kylo pulls him close with a hand on his lower back. “Come with me.”

“Lolo,” Poe singsongs. “I gotta plate it up. I gotta…” and Kylo is kissing up his neck, the way he knows that drives Poe crazy. “I have to…mm…I need…”

“You need to come shower with me.”

He can feel when Poe gives in. “Fine. But I am not letting dinner go cold.”

It’s a short trip to the bathroom and Kylo doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of watching Poe take off his clothes. He knows Hux doesn’t understand why he did what he did. Why he dug into Poe’s mind, scraped out all that unnecessary fuss and put himself in its place. He knows Hux thinks he could have just chained and had Poe whenever he wanted.

Hux probably would have liked to see when the pride and hope behind his eyes broke.

It’s _different_ though. It’s different when Poe _wants_ it. And oh, does Poe want it like this. Poe wants it from his boyfriend, his Lolo.

(The Lolo had been a compromise, Poe kept trying to call him Ben but the name was no longer in his memory so he would twitch and space out like a skipping hologram when he reached for it.)

“I did some reading today,” Poe says as Kylo starts the shower. A water one, indulgent. “Some of the new droid specs.” The reading material Poe got now was carefully cultivated. Kylo had learned that early on. An article had slipped through about the old republic and the cognitive dissonance it caused in Poe’s new mind had made him wake up screaming. Poe is happier, Kylo learned, when he doesn’t let him worry. He gives him tech articles and old fiction stories that don’t mention the republic or the empire and slaughters anyone who upsets his- what’s his.

“Hux denied me the troops I asked for,” Kylo finally says, reaching for Poe.

“Armie,” Poe says, lip curling up in a sneer. Poe’s distain for the general is a source of constant amusement for Kylo. “I’d love to get that little punk in a fair fight.”

“Don’t worry about him.” Kylo pulls Poe under the spray. And even Kylo’s own quarrels with the general seem to melt away as Poe’s body fits against his.

“That’s right.” Poe cups Kylo’s face between his palms. “I missed you. You push yourself hard, Kylo. I worry about you.” His thumb slides over Kylo’s lower lip and something twists in Kylo’s stomach. “Don’t stretch yourself too thin. You’ve always been like that. Trying to do everything, even at the cost to yourself.”

Kylo doesn’t know what to say to that, so he just kisses Poe deeply instead. It’s a good choice, especially as Poe moans into the kiss and arches into Kylo’s touch. “You gonna make love to me?” Poe whispers, eyes alight and playful.

“I’m gonna fuck you,” Kylo murmurs back, “like a Coruscant whore.”

Poe shivers against his body. “Even better.”

Poe’s skin is slippery under his hands as he slides them down his body, and when he tosses his head back and moans his dark hair is slicked to his head. “Ah, it’s been too long.”

Kylo bites a vicious mark high up on Poe’s neck, drawing out a throaty cry. “You touch yourself while I was gone?”

Poe grinds his rapidly hardening cock against Kylo’s thigh. “Every night, baby.”

“I bet everyone here wanted to get their hands on you.”

He laughs, but it turns into a moan as Kylo reaches between his legs and finds Poe already slick and stretched for him. “Who else am I gonna get close to? Besides, I already have the sexiest force user this side of the galax- ah- ah!” His voice goes high and breathy when Kylo slips a finger in. “Might have- thought you’d want this and planned ahead.”

Poe is always so tight around his fingers. The first time they fucked Poe had looked so beautiful spread out on his sheets that Kylo hadn’t had time to savor it. But he’s more than made up for it since. Like now, when he adds a second finger without warning.

“Ah! Kriff, Kylo.” Poe grabs at Kylo’s hair and the pain just makes him want it more. “Give it to me. I missed you. Been so empty.”

“Yeah?” Kylo curls his fingers, flexes and twists until Poe makes that sharp gasp that means he’s struck home. “I’ll just have to fuck you until you feel full again.”

“How much time you got?” Poe asks breathlessly. “Might take awhile.”

That’s all Kylo can take. He turns Poe around roughly, taking a moment to marvel at the arch of his back, the curve of his ass. “Fuck. You’re exquisite.”

Poe tips his head back, grinning lazily. “Stop talking and fuck me.”

He doesn’t have to tell Kylo twice. He slides in with one unbroken movement, listening as Poe whines, rising up on his toes at the deep stretch. He knows he didn’t prep Poe quite enough and Kylo isn’t exactly small, but Poe’s always been an adrenaline junkie. He loves where the edge of too-much meets just-right.

“Oh, fuck.” Poe’s head hands between where his hands are braced on the shower wall. “Oh, f-fuck. Yeah. It’s so good, I’m so full, it’s so _good,_ Kylo.”

This is what Kylo likes best. Poe spread out for him, every nerve exposed and raw and vulnerable. Kylo feels like he could reach in and pluck him like a string. He grips Poe’s hips and begins thrusting, slowly at first, so that Poe can feel every inch of the drag of his cock.

“Kriff, yes, _yes!_ ” Poe is practically wailing and Kylo wants him to, wants everyone on this ship to hear how much Poe delights in taking Kylo’s cock. _None of them can have this_ , he thinks. _Not ever_.

He’s thrusting harder now, and Poe’s gasps echo in the shower. He must be hitting Poe’s prostate now, with how they’re rising in pitch. He knows what Poe sounds like when he’s getting close, and the knowledge is intoxicating.

“I want you,” he says, having to force the words out through his own heavy breathing. “To come on my cock.”

“Fuck, Kylo.” Poe is panting now, trying to rock back into the powerful thrusts. “Kylo-“ He reaches a hand back, tangles it in Kylo’s wet hair and presses a messy kiss to Kylo’s mouth. “Kylo, Kylo.”

Hearing his name from Poe like this never gets old. Kylo’s getting close himself, and his thrusts are losing their precision. “That’s right, Poe, _fuck,_ you feel so good-“

“Fuck,” Poe breathes, eyes sliding shut. “I love you. I love you so much, Kylo.”

His orgasm hits him like a speeder and he practically lifts Poe off his feet with how he grinds against his hips, fucking into him even as he fills him. He can feel Poe crying out, clenching around him as he finds his own climax.

And that’s his raw nerve, isn’t it? Surrounded by a ship full of people who would just as soon slit his throat as look at him, and he’s given the power to reach into his chest to this pretty, unassuming pilot. It’s something that bothers him more when he isn’t still riding out his high, so he doesn’t think about it.

“Wow.” Poe smiles at him, fucked-out and blissful. “What a welcome home.” After a second he smacks ineffectively at Kylo’s shoulder. “Come on, I meant it about not letting dinner go cold.”

After dinner, Poe curls up around Kylo in bed. Kylo’s hand strokes along Poe’s bare back, thumbing over the scars built up from the life of someone who acts first and thinks later. “I’ll be leaving for the second moon of Berden in the morning,” he says absently.

“Wait.” Poe lifts up on his elbows, looking down at Kylo. “You just got here. You’re leaving again? I thought we’d have more time together.”

“I have to leave tomorrow if I want to bring a sufficient number of troops. With the skills test Hux ordered, I can only get half if I wait.”

Poe bites his lip. “Why don’t I come with you this time?”

“Poe.” Kylo snorts. “Be serious.”

“I _am_ serious,” Poe argues. “I won’t get in the way. Come on, Kylo, it gets so boring here when you’re gone.”

“I’ll get you some more tech journals.”

“I don’t _want_ more tech journals.” Poe lets out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t have anyone to talk to. Who am I supposed to hang out with when you’re not here? Armitage? He hates me. And don’t say he doesn’t. I hate him too.”

“You don’t need anyone else.” Kylo drags Poe back down for a kiss, but Poe turns his face so it lands on his cheek. “I’m enough.”

“Just let me come this time. I’ll stay in the shuttle. You won’t know I’m there.”

“No, Poe.”

“Just this once, and I’ll-“

“ _No.”_ Kylo’s voice is hard and leaves no room for further discussion. Poe quiets, pressing his lips into a thin line. After a moment, Kylo sighs and kisses his temple. “Just stay in here. It’s safe. I can’t keep you safe out there.”

Poe doesn’t say anything else, but he rests his head against Kylo’s shoulder again, and that’s good enough.

* * *

“FN-2187,” the trooper’s moderated voice makes his head snap up. He’s just finishing the sanitation of this quarter, and he was really looking forward to going back to his barracks and taking a sonic. Still, he stands at attention at the approach of a superior. “We’ve got a request for cleanup. Lord Ren’s private quarters.”

Behind the helmet, FN-2187 blinks rapidly. “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

“You know where they are, don’t you? His private quarters, not his meditation room.”

FN-2187 swallows heavily. He’s never spoken a word to Lord Ren, and that’s the way he likes it. It’s no secret that those who keep their heads down and stay away from him have a longer lifespan. “Right now?”

“Yes, FN-2187. Now. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Yes, sir.” He salutes, the back of his neck prickling with adrenaline. He wonders why Lord Ren requested a cleanup. What if it’s a body?

He doesn’t want to go, but he knows that if he disobeys an order from Lord Ren himself, he’s as good as signed his execution. He’ll- he’ll go, and do his job, and it’ll- it’ll be fine. It will be fine.

He doesn’t believe himself.

His boots feel heavier and heavier as he approaches the quarters. He wonders what it’s like inside. Will it be gory, or sterile and chrome? Maybe it won’t be lit and Lord Ren keeps it in pitch blackness. Expecting the worst, he keys in the sanitation code at the door, which slides open in front of him, and takes a deep breath before crossing the threshold.

It’s…normal. There’s a scattering of gears on the desk and a few tools to go with them. A pile of pads sit on the edge, haphazardly left there. There’s a blanket tossed over the back of the couch.

“Oh, good! I thought I heard someone come in.” For the second time that day FN-2187 abruptly twists his head at the unexpected voice.

It…if you had put a phaser to his head and asked him to guess what was in Lord Ren’s private quarters, he would never in a million cycles have come up with this.

There’s a man. He’s got warm brown skin- lighter than FN-2187’s- and dark hair that curls around his ears in a way that is most certainly not regulation. Neither is the rakish stubble along his chin. His eyes are a bright, laughing brown. He’s wearing a regular black short-sleeved shirt, but it’s a little loose on him in a way that would never fly with the troopers. He’s wearing pants tied at the waist that hang loose around his ankles but somehow make him look graceful instead of sloppy.

He is barefoot.

“You’re sanitation, right? Come on back.” He beckons to FN-2187, who is glad for it, because he was beginning to think he walked in the wrong room. He follows the man, who keeps talking. “I was cooking and I guess I got a little carried away because I knocked a glass right off the counter.”

Sure enough, when FN-2187 comes back to the cooking area, there’s a dark red puddle on the floor with shards of glass splayed around. For lack of anything else to do with his hands, he gets started cleaning it up.

He’s aware of the man coming to stand by him, picking up a second glass on the counter and taking a sip from it. It has the same dark red liquid, and FN-2187 can see a wine bottle nearby. He has so, so many questions, but he doesn’t dare ask any.

As he finishes the job, the man moves back to what’s on the cooking surface. “Will there be anything else?” He dares to ask.

“Yeah, actually.” The man turns around. “Will you take off the helmet?”

FN-2187 freezes. Is this some kind of test? He agrees and Lord Ren shows up and lops off his head with his saber? But the man is looking at him, brown eyes searching the hard white shell of his helmet, and finally FN-2187 lifts it off.

The air is cooler in here, comfortable. Without the helmet he can smell the savory spices of whatever the man has cooking. “Oh,” the man says, a slow smile spreading across his face, and his teeth are very white. “There you are. I know you’ve got to wear them, but those helmets creep me out. Remind me of bugs.” He tilts his head, assessing FN-2187. “You’re cute,” he says at last.

FN-2187…doesn’t know how to react to that, but he thinks he might be flushing. “Thanks?”

“Don’t thank me for the truth. You got a name?”

“My designation is FN-2187.”

“FN.” The man furrows his brow in thought, and for a second FN-2187 can see a flash of a pink tongue between his teeth. “Can I call you Finn?”

“Finn.” FN-2187 rolls it around in his mouth, and something in his chest clenches. It’s…not his designation. It fits over him like an undersuit, comfortable and molded to him. “Finn. I like it.”

“Nice to meet you, Finn.” The man flashes a brilliant smile at him. “I’m Poe.” He turns back to the pot on the cooking surface, stirring it quickly, then lifts the spoon, holding a hand underneath it. “Would you taste this for me? I don’t know if it needs more salt.”

He holds the spoon out to FN-2- to Finn as an offering. It’s an order, Finn thinks, and he can’t get in trouble for accepting an order, no matter how strange this whole situation is. When he leans in and takes a taste from the spoon, the flavor that explodes across his tongue is so wildly different from the ration bars they get that it almost makes his teeth ache. “Wow,” he says, smacking his lips. “It’s good. It’s really good.”

Poe’s face lights up. “Yeah? You don’t think that it needs more salt?”

“No, no, it’s perfect.”

“Thanks.” Poe practically shimmies back to the cooking surface, removing the pot from the heat. “For…humoring me. Most troopers don’t want to talk to me.”

“Why not?” Maybe Finn shouldn’t be asking, but the man in front of him seems…well, approachable. Kind. “You seem nice.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me for the truth.”

Poe barks out a laugh. “Oh! I like you. To answer your question, I think my boyfriend intimidates people. He’s protective.”

His boyfriend. It’s all Finn can do not to look around the room and make sure that he wasn’t in the wrong place again. “And your- uh, your boyfriend is, uh-“

Poe laughs again, leaning back against the counter. “Yeah, it’s Kylo. I know, he acts tough, but he’s a real softie if you just know where to look.” He winks at Finn then, because this whole situation isn’t surreal enough.

“Kylo. Kylo Ren. Lord Ren.” Finn clears his throat, trying not to sound like he’s utterly bewildered, but Poe must not mind because he’s smiling at him indulgently. “He’s…I, uh. Didn’t know he had…someone.”

“He’s not big into talking about his feelings,” Poe says, rolling his eyes. “But I know he loves me. He’s never been great at expressing things.”

“Well, um. Congrats. Can I- can I ask- how did you two…how?”

“Yeah.” Poe hops up on the counter, folding one leg underneath him. “Anyway, I’ve known Kylo since we were kids. We kind of grew up together.”

“So where are you…from?” Finn’s never thought about where Kylo Ren came from.

“Me? I’m from Yavin 4.” He smiles that same brilliant white smile at Finn. “Ever been there?”

“I haven’t been sent there yet.”

“It’s beautiful. So much green. And the trees- I remember this one tree growing up, I used to…there was something different about it. Just this energy, like it was alive. The whole forest was like that. And then Kylo…we used to…” He abruptly grimaces, rubbing at his temple. “Sorry, headaches.”

Finn steps forward, hand coming up to gently touch Poe’s elbow. “Are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, buddy.” He lowers his hand, blinking a few times, before focusing on Finn again. “What about you? Where are you from?”

“Oh.” Finn shifts. “I was raised in the order, like most of the troopers. This is…” he waves a hand at their surroundings. “This is it.”

“Small world.” Poe looks at him and his gaze is so soft. “Hey, do you wanna stay for dinner? I hate eating alone.”

Finn thinks about it and he…would. He knows that this situation is maybe one of the weirdest he’s ever been in, but looking at Poe, he feels at ease. And it wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

His comm chirps before he can answer. “Oh. I have to- my squadron leader.”

“Yeah, figures.” Poe looks at him wistfully. “Thanks anyway.”

“Next time,” Finn promises before he can stop himself. And maybe that was a stupid thing to promise, but it’s worth it for that sunshine smile that spreads across Poe’s face as Finn hurries out to answer his comm.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a [Tumblr](mixxtapej.tumblr.com) if you wanna talk.
> 
> Reviews feed my soul.


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